Land of a Thousand Klutzes
by LuckyLadybug
Summary: 1987 series, late season 7. Following the events of Exit the Fly, Shredder, Krang, and Barney Stockman conspire on a plot to make the entire city clumsy. But since their clumsiness ray has no effect on those who are already clumsy, the Turtles have to turn to Irma Langinstein and Baxter Stockman for help.


**Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1987**

 **Land of a Thousand Klutzes**

 **By Lucky_Ladybug**

 **Notes: The characters are not mine and the story is! This is part of my "Exit the Fly" verse and takes place directly after that story. The main things one needs to know from it are that Baxter is human and relatively sane again and due to the events following that, he has become an ally of the Turtles. Also, his twin brother Barney is now working for Shredder and Krang. The time period is either late season 7 or a season 8 of my own, different from the Red Sky episodes.**

When the alarm went off at Irma Langinstein's apartment for the third time that morning, the sleepy secretary fell out of bed in shock and alarm, dragging her covers with her.

"Oh no!" she cried as she picked up the clock radio and stared at its digital announcement. "I'm going to be late! So late! Mr. Thompson will kill me!"

The next fifteen minutes were filled with the frantic rush to get ready and dressed to flee out the door, peppered with the moans and cries of "I'm late!" When she was finally flying out the door with a pack of Ding-Dongs for breakfast, she collided with a middle-aged man right outside in the hall and sent him to the floor.

"I'm so sorry!" she yelped. Despite knowing it would make her even more late, she reached out a hand to help the dazed man up.

"You should be!" he retorted. Then he trailed off, stunned as her well-meaning hand knocked his already-askew glasses off his face. They spun in mid-air before coming to a stop against the woodwork. He quickly grabbed them before another accident could occur.

"Are you okay?!" she asked.

"Yes, I'm fine." He pulled himself up, suddenly looking awkward. "You didn't hurt yourself, did you?"

"No. I'm used to it, sadly. And I have to go! I'm late!" She tore past him, practically galloping for the stairs.

He stared after her. "I'm going to have to be careful on this floor," he frowned. "Apparently when I get properly moved in, she's going to be my neighbor."

The crinkle of cellophane brought his attention around and he threw his hands up out of reflex to catch a strange pack as it fell off his head. "What . . ." Then he could only gawk at the two Ding-Dongs in his cupped hands.

The urge to rip the package open and eat them was suddenly almost overwhelming. But instead, fighting against it, he sighed and marched in determination to the stairs. "Miss?" he called. He could still hear her clattering down the next flight of stairs. But the frantic descent was so loud that apparently she could not hear him.

"Oh well, I was going down anyway," he said in resignation.

The first part of the journey was fine. But when he realized she was almost to the bottom, he picked up the pace to catch her. That was a mistake; when there were a few steps left, he tripped over one and went sailing to the bottom with a cry. The Ding-Dongs flew out of his hands.

Irma, turning at the sound of his voice, yelped in surprise and grabbed for the flying food. It bounced back and forth between her hands before she stumbled back into the front door and managed to keep hold of them.

"You lost those," the man groaned from the floor.

"Oh, thank you," Irma said as she hurriedly put them in her purse. "My breakfast." She went back over to him in concern. "Are you alright?!"

"Yes." He pushed himself to his knees and then grabbed the banister to steady himself the rest of the way.

"I hope we don't keep meeting like this," she said with unease and embarrassment.

"That makes two of us." He pushed his glasses up on his nose.

"Well, I really am late, so if you're okay, I need to run. Thank you again!" Irma dashed back to the door and outside. A potted plant fell over as she brushed against it. "Oh dear. . . ."

He sighed and watched her as he draped one arm along the bottom of the banister. "Living here isn't going to be dull," he remarked. "But I'm not sure that's a good thing."

The sound of an electronic device went off in his lab coat pocket. Momentarily startled, he reached in and pulled out a Turtle-Comm. "What is it, Michelangelo?" he asked as he opened it and saw the orange-masked Turtle looking back at him from the viewscreen.

"Just checking in, Baxter," Michelangelo calmly answered. "Everything okay with your apartment?"

"Yes, aside from the fact that my furniture is delayed," Baxter Stockman said in irritation. "And I think I just met that Irma person you've been talking about."

"Oh yeah? You look pretty frazzled, Dude. I guess it must have gone about exactly as we thought it would."

"I imagine so." Baxter started for the door. "I'm going back to the furniture store to find out what the delay is."

"Okay. Just let us know if you want us to help you rearrange it when you get it," Michelangelo said.

"I might, if the deliverymen are as incompetent as they currently seem to be," Baxter sniffed. With that, he hung up and headed out.

xxxx

"So how's Baxter doing?" Raphael asked as Michelangelo hung up. He stood on the practice mat with both sai bared, ready for action.

"He's fine," Michelangelo replied. "A little miffed at the furniture store, but just great aside from that."

"Heh. Who'd have ever thought we'd be giving Baxter Stockman a Turtle-Comm so we could keep in touch?" Raphael leaped in the air, slicing through it with his sai, and came down with a kick to the punching bag hanging from the ceiling.

"None of us, that's for sure," Michelangelo said as he pulled out his nunchucks.

"A lot's happened in the last few days," Leonardo said as he and Donatello walked in to join the sparring session. He drew his katanas and charged forward on the mat.

"To say the least," Donatello exclaimed as he pulled his bo staff. "Baxter attacked us, he ended up human again and ill, we took care of him . . ."

Michelangelo moved to spar with Donatello. "His brother joined Shredder, Baxter nearly got killed by said brother while trying to save us and Master Splinter and April . . ."

"And we're still waiting on Shredder's next move," Leonardo worried.

"I fear that will come before we're ready to face it," Splinter said as he appeared on the scene.

"It won't if we keep practicing," Leonardo vowed.

"Yeah!" Raphael chimed in. "Whatever Shred-Head's planning, we'll beat him back no problem. Like always."

"Do not grow too cocky, Raphael," Splinter cautioned, bringing up his walking stick to block a swing from Raphael's sai. "Shredder always finds ways to grow more dangerous. With Barney Stockman in his employ, there is no telling what might happen next."

Raphael's eyes flickered in concern. "You're right, Master Splinter." He drew back. "That mesmerizer of Barney's nearly did us in last time."

"Which is why Leonardo is correct and we must increase our practice time," said Splinter.

"Increase?! But we might need to help Baxter move into his place if his furniture comes," Michelangelo protested.

"That would also be good practice," Splinter noted. "You would be lifting heavy objects and growing stronger for it."

"Well, if you say so, Sensei," Raphael shrugged.

"Until he calls, let's keep practicing here," Leonardo encouraged.

The others were agreeable. Their shadows fell across the walls of the Lair as their ninja training resumed.

xxxx

Deep in the Technodrome, three of the fortress's occupants were observing Irma running outside the apartment complex and hailing a taxi. As she waved to it, she crashed into a parking meter and sent money spilling out of it.

"Oh no. Oh dear," she moaned, bending down to pick up the fallen coins.

"Hey, come on, Lady. I don't have all day," the cabbie complained.

"Of course. I'm coming." Deciding there was no choice, Irma left the change where it was and started for the cab. She slipped on the coins, fell across the hood, and bent the antenna.

"Are you for real?!" the cabbie yelled.

"I'm so sorry. I'll pay for it," Irma exclaimed.

"You sure will," the cabbie snapped. "I'm not gonna get blamed for this one!"

At last Irma made it inside and they drove away.

She had no idea that she was on Technodrome Camera.

"Your viewscreen is highly impressive," a red-haired man commented. He looked eerily identical to Baxter Stockman, aside from hair color.

"Yes," smiled the talking alien brain. "It's state-of-the-art and interdimensional. It's certainly proved useful for keeping tabs on Earth's surface from all manner of . . . uncomfortable locations."

The evil ninja warlord scowled. "That girl is just about as idiotically clumsy as Bebop and Rocksteady."

"If only the Turtles were that clumsy, Shredder, you might stand a chance of defeating them," said the brain.

"Krang - !" Shredder clenched a fist, but suddenly stopped and looked thoughtful. "Maybe you have something there." He looked to the other human in the room. "Dr. Stockman, would it be possible to craft a machine that would cause clumsiness?"

Barney Stockman sneered. "I believe it would."

"Shredder, what are you cooking up now?" Krang croaked, definitely looking unimpressed.

"A new plan to stop the Turtles," Shredder replied. "And you gave me the idea, Krang."

"Three cheers for me," Krang said with dripping sarcasm. "Even if such a machine can be created, it will have at least one weakness. It likely won't have any effect on those who are already clumsy."

"Then that would leave the fate of New York City in the hands of people like Irma Langinstein!" Shredder cackled. "It's the perfect plan. There's no way that simple-minded girl could ever defeat us!"

"Hmm." Krang finally smirked. "Maybe it _is_ worth pursuing." He looked to Barney. "See what you can do with Shredder's idea, Dr. Stockman."

"You won't be sorry," Barney said with a quick bow. He turned and departed the room.

"Feeling better about our Earth scientist again, are we?" Krang asked Shredder.

"I just wondered what his take on this invention would be," Shredder said. "Unlike Baxter, Barney isn't crazy or clumsy. That makes him far more pleasing to work with." 

"That's right. Baxter was that sort." Krang frowned. "At least he's dead, so we won't have to worry about him interfering again."

Shredder suddenly looked ill. "The Turtles took his body away. Maybe they'd find a way to revive him."

"Even if they did, so what?" Krang grumped. "If he and this Irma from Channel 6 were the only ones not affected by the clumsiness ray, New York still wouldn't have much of a chance."

"Yes," Shredder pounced. "That's true."

"So don't worry about it!"

"I'm still surprised that you decided you wanted Barney here," Shredder said. "You've always maintained that you're the only scientist we need. Although that's debatable."

"Oh, I'm not giving up on any of my scientific pursuits," Krang said with a particularly nasty smile.

"And just what is that supposed to mean?" Shredder demanded.

"You'll find out," Krang chanted. "Just not now."

"I can hardly wait," Shredder muttered.

xxxx

April looked up from a computer printout as Irma finally stumbled off the elevator and over to her desk, clinging to an empty food wrapper in one hand and her purse in the other.

"It's about time you showed up," April exclaimed. "Mr. Thompson was roaring for you a few minutes ago."

"Oh great," Irma groaned. She set the wrapper on her desk and moved to throw her purse in the wastebasket.

"Irma!" April cried before she could. "Do you know what you're doing?!"

Irma paused and fully processed the scene. "Ohhh . . . !" She hurried back to her desk and plunked her purse down. Instead of removing the wrapper, however, she sank down at her desk as well and rubbed her temples. "It's really been one of those mornings where nothing goes right. I was late getting up, I knocked some guy down and left my Ding-Dongs on his head, the plant outside our building fell over, the change came out of the parking meter, I bent a taxi cab's antenna, and I nearly threw my purse away! And it's not even ten o'clock!"

April tried to hide a smile. "Well, maybe the rest of the day will be better."

"With Mr. Thompson screaming about me not being here? Don't bet on it." Irma slumped back in her chair.

"How about I tell him you're here now?" April offered. "Then maybe he won't come out to yell at you for a while, anyway."

"Would you? That would be swell," Irma declared. Finally noticing the wrapper, she grabbed it off the desk and rolled the chair over to the wastebucket to throw it in.

"So what kind of a guy did you bump into?" April asked conspiratorily as she came over closer to the desk.

"I don't know," Irma admitted. "I was in such a panic to get here that I didn't notice too much about him. I think he was a scientist or something."

"Irma Langinstein not noticing a guy?" April said playfully. "What's the world coming to?"

"Well . . . I really _did_ notice him," Irma amended. "I just figured he wouldn't be interested in me. He was older than me and he looked like he was wrapped up in his work, you know? Like scientists always are." She made a face. "I want to be the most important thing to a guy, not the second or third most important thing behind his job or his research. I'd probably never see a scientist except two minutes every day when I'd bring him his food so he wouldn't starve. And I wouldn't understand ninety-nine percent of what he'd say. It wouldn't be much better than being single. Maybe it'd be worse."

"Okay, Irma," April chuckled. "You're after a different kind of relationship. I get it."

"At least I _want_ a relationship," Irma remarked. "You hardly ever show the slightest interest in the idea!"

"I'm more interested in focusing on my career," April reminded. "Trying to fit a steady guy in would tie me down too much."

"It wouldn't have to be steady!" Irma protested. "But you're not even interested in casual dates!"

"The few times I've tried dating, my job or the Turtles or Shredder interrupts it," April said. "I think the guys can do without that as well as I can. There's just too much on my plate right now to seriously think about adding something else too. I'm happy with my life the way it is."

"Well, I'm glad one of us is," Irma muttered, folding her arms.

"I'd better talk to Burne before he blows his stack again," April said. She set the printout on Irma's desk. "This was something that came through just before you got here. I figured I'd better look it over since I wasn't sure when you'd make it in."

"Okay," Irma sighed. "Thanks again for talking to Mr. Thompson."

"No problem," April said over her shoulder.

xxxx

Baxter scowled as he leaned over the Customer Service desk at Furniture World and glared at the person currently manning it. "Are you telling me you have no idea why my furniture is late or where it even is?!" His eyes flashed.

"I'm sorry, Sir," the seemingly clueless worker said. The light overhead caught his shiny nameplate proclaiming _Doug._ "I told you that deliveries have been slow all over the city."

"But you should have a way of contacting your delivery vehicles," Baxter retorted.

"I'm afraid you'll just have to go back to your apartment and wait for it to arrive. That should be . . ." Doug glanced at his schedule. "Any time within the next 48 hours."

"There is no furniture in my apartment!" Baxter boomed. He was out of patience. "You already said the delivery would be yesterday and it wasn't! Now you're saying two more days?!"

"The full two days is the most extreme case scenario," said Doug. "You'll probably see delivery by the end of the day."

"I'm already demanding a discount on the entire shipment because of your store's incompetence!" Baxter snapped. "You can be sure I won't be buying from here again!"

With that he turned and stormed out, not caring if every other patron in the store was staring at him.

He was halfway down the block before he slowed to a stop, frowning as he really thought about his outburst. He was perfectly within his rights to be angry at the preposterous situation, but still, was his screaming reminiscent of Shredder's verbal abuse towards him?

No, he decided then. Shredder had repeatedly, near-constantly raked him over the coals by calling him virtually every cruel name he could think of, even at times when he hadn't done anything wrong. Baxter had vented his aggravation over the store's idiocy, but he hadn't ripped that particular employee up one side and down another. He hadn't even called the boy out on his apparent inefficiency.

He gave a weary sigh. In days past, he would have seen the problem as yet another way that bad luck seemed to follow him around. The same for running into that girl. But the last few days had been such a mixture of both good and bad, with good being more prominent, that he knew it wasn't only bad things that happened to him.

When the sky lit up with a strange glow, he stumbled and fell back against a building in surprise. "What . . ."

The bizarre red rays were spreading out over the entire city. Right after they passed over any particular area, strange things happened in their wake. Cars threw on their brakes. People walking down the street suddenly staggered and swayed. Someone nearly fell off a ladder but caught himself just barely in time.

Baxter slowly pushed himself away from the wall after the rays passed over him. "It can't be anything that bad," he said to himself. "I don't feel any different."

But then he paused to really focus on what was happening around him. "They're all acting so strange," he gasped as a jogger abruptly did a faceplant into the sidewalk. "It's as though they've all suddenly become . . . clumsy."

Was it possible? Could this be Shredder's new plan? It sounded outlandish enough to be something he would try. If the ray could reach and affect the Turtles, none of their ninjitsu training or even their mutant abilities would hold up. Shredder would easily defeat them in battle.

Quickly he took out his Turtle-Comm. "Hello? Come in, one of you. Any of you!"

It was several minutes before he received a reply. Then, ". . . Baxter?" came Leonardo's hesitant voice.

"Yes," Baxter said in exasperation. "What's going on?"

"I don't know." Finally Leonardo came into view. He seemed to be sprawled on the practice mat. "We've all been practicing our ninjitsu, as always, but something's gone wrong."

In the background something crashed and Michelangelo yelped, "Whoa!"

"Watch it, Michelangelo!" Raphael snapped.

"Me? You're the one who almost put my eye out!" Michelangelo retorted.

"Which wouldn't have happened if Donatello hadn't tripped me with his bo!" Raphael shot back.

"Well, I wouldn't have lost my balance if Leonardo's katana hadn't flown into my bo," Donatello exclaimed.

"And that wouldn't have happened if I hadn't tripped on the edge of the mat," Leonardo sighed.

"Maybe we've been hanging around Irma too long," Raphael muttered.

"No! That's not it!" Baxter finally got a word in.

Leonardo snapped to attention. "How do you know, Baxter?"

"Because almost everyone around town is acting the same way!" Baxter turned to stare as a girl dancing down the street with headphones on suddenly slipped and fell into a garden display in front of a building.

"They're all clumsy?!" Leonardo got up, stunned beyond belief. "That's not possible!"

"It is if Barney or Krang designed something that confuses the part of the brain that affects balance and coordination," Baxter retorted.

"He's right," Donatello groaned. "Actually, when I think about it, I'm surprised Shredder hasn't tried this before. We're not in any kind of condition to fight now!"

"So what are we going to do?!" Raphael shot back. "We can't just leave things like this!"

"We don't have any choice," Leonardo insisted. "We have to try to fight."

"I don't feel strange," Baxter said. "I don't think I'm any more clumsy than I . . ." He tripped over a crack in the sidewalk and went down. ". . . Ever was."

Leonardo winced. "And I guess April's probably been affected too."

"Maybe the only people who aren't affected are the ones who are already clumsy," Donatello suggested. He used his bo as a walking stick to pull himself up.

"What good will that do?" Raphael scoffed. "They're not any better off than we are now!"

"No," Leonardo mused. "They have an advantage-they're used to it."

"That's true," Baxter said, pushing himself to his knees. "It's far easier for someone like me to deal with it than it would be for you."

"No kidding," Raphael said in frustration. "The last thing a ninja can afford to be is clumsy!"

"So what're we gonna do?" Michelangelo spoke up. "Get Irma and Baxter or something and go try to stop Shredder with them?"

Leonardo hesitated. "I don't like to do that. Irma hasn't had much crime-fighting experience. And Baxter, you're supposed to be dead."

Baxter made a face. "You don't have to remind me."

"We're going to do our best to defeat Shredder," Leonardo determined. "The machine surely has to be here in the city somewhere. We'll find and destroy it."

"In your conditions?" Baxter said doubtfully.

"If you don't hear from us within an hour, maybe you'd better contact Splinter," Leonardo said. With that he hung up.

Splinter, who had been listening to most of the conversation, approached with a grave expression. "It is very risky for you to go out, my students," he warned. "This plan of Shredder's is particularly devious. He has disrupted the entire city just to get at you."

"That's what he does almost all the time," Raphael objected.

"And it is unfortunately working." Splinter watched as they all gathered to leave.

"Don't worry, Master Splinter," Leonardo vowed. "We've always found a way to work around these challenges before. We will this time as well."

"I pray you will," Splinter said.

"Oh sure. Piece of cake," Raphael said sarcastically as he glanced over his shoulder while walking.

Leonardo stared. "Raphael, look out for the . . ."

 _"Whoa!"_ Raphael tripped over the corner of the practice mat and went flying.

Everyone winced.

"Okay," Raphael moaned as he sat up with a banana peel on his head. "Is it too late to call Baxter back?"

xxxx

To the Turtles' relief, they made it out of the Lair and to the van without any more calamities. Donatello remotely opened the grate and they departed, keeping alert for Shredder's new hideout-and any newly-clumsy people who might wander into the road along the way.

"Man, I have a new appreciation for Irma now, let me tell you," Raphael declared as he sat with folded arms on one of the back seats.

"No kidding," Michelangelo chirped. "She's really a trouper. Baxter too. We're lucky we didn't fall down in the water on our way to the Turtle Van."

"We almost fell getting into the van," Donatello exclaimed. "It's probably harder on us than even on normal people, since we're trained to be so careful."

"How are we ever gonna fight Shredder?" Michelangelo wondered.

"It won't be easy," Leonardo said, "but we'll still have to do our best."

"Yeah, well, first we've gotta find him!" Michelangelo retorted.

"Maybe we should just follow the source of those bizarre red rays in the sky?" Raphael exclaimed, staring out the window.

Donatello stared too. "That sounds logical to me."

xxxx

It didn't take long and they were pulling up in front of the skyscraper in question. "Alright, everyone," Leonardo said as they readied their weapons. "We don't know what's in store for us in there. Just stay alert, especially since we're no longer the graceful ninjas we once were."

"I don't even see anybody on guard duty!" Michelangelo said in surprised disbelief when he opened the door.

"Heh. Bebop and Rocksteady must be around there somewhere," Raphael snarked. "The ray wouldn't affect them, that's for sure."

Donatello stiffened at a new thought. "They're physically stronger than us on the good days," he said. "What's going to happen on a day like today?!"

That brought a definite cringe from Raphael. "I'm not sure I wanna know."

"Well, you're gonna anyway!" came Rocksteady's jeering voice. The mutant rhinoceros appeared in the doorway, gun in hand.

"We are gonna have fun today," Bebop grinned.

"Hello to you too," Raphael said with undisguised sarcasm.

A red-haired man came up from behind them, smirking at the Turtles as they left the van and drew closer. "Welcome, Turtles," he greeted. "You may have defeated my mesmerizer, but this time you won't escape. You're probably more clumsy now than my stupid brother was," he giggled.

The Turtles gripped their weapons. "Barney," Leonardo said warningly. The other Stockman had to be aware that the Turtles knew Baxter was alive, since he knew the Turtles had taken Baxter off the Technodrome after their last clash. But around Bebop and Rocksteady, and Shredder if he was there, they had to put on an act. Barney had told Krang that Baxter was dead. To reveal his lie could spell their death warrants.

"You've really got no shame, haven't you?" Raphael snapped. "You murdered your brother in cold blood and now you stand here joking about him!"

Leonardo caught the flash in Raphael's eyes. His anger wasn't entirely an act; he was understandably sickened and appalled that Barney had struck Baxter with a crowbar in any case.

To his credit, Barney did not react. "Oh well. Baxter always was a thorn in my side," he said lazily. "Interfering when I finally had something I wanted was the last straw. At last he paid for it."

"Hey, can we stop talking and start thrashing Turtles already?" Bebop grumped.

"By all means." Barney gave a swooping gesture and stepped to the side. "I'll just stand here and watch where I will be out of the line of fire."

"Coming to think about it, why aren't you affected, if you're so much less clumsy than Baxter?" Leonardo frowned.

"I protected Bebop and Rocksteady from the mesmerizer," Barney retorted. "I'm protecting myself from this."

"Oh, I see," Raphael said. "One of your little scientific doodads."

"You put everything so crudely," Barney sniffed. "But essentially yes."

"Well, you know what it says about me in the theme song," Raphael quipped.

"Enough of this!" Shredder suddenly boomed from somewhere inside the building. "Stop wasting time! Bebop, Rocksteady, attack!"

"With pleasure, Boss!" Rocksteady sneered.

The opposing sides lunged at each other while Barney kept quite out of the way. He soon slipped back inside to watch from the lobby with Shredder.

"You see?" he smirked. "It's working perfectly."

Leonardo had just about reached Bebop when he suddenly tripped over his own feet and went down. Cackling, Bebop slammed his club across Leonardo's shell.

"Hey!" Raphael yelled. "Why don't you pick on somebody who's still standing?!" He threw a sai, embedding it in the club. But when he tried to throw the second one, he fumbled and it fell. "Yikes!" He barely managed to jump out of the way before it would have plunged into his foot.

Bebop grinned. "Sure you're still standing, but for how long?" He sent his club spinning at Raphael.

The Turtle yelped, somersaulting out of the way, but he crashed right into Donatello and they both went down.

"Watch it!" Donatello cried. Now they were tangled up with little hope of getting free quickly.

"You've still gotta take me down, Dude!" Michelangelo called to Rocksteady. "And you're not gonna have anywhere as much luck with me! A surfer dude has to be doubly as fast on his feet since he's not just a ninja!"

"Oh yeah?" Rocksteady leaped in the air as he charged. "Then I guess that means you're gonna fall doubly as hard!"

Michelangelo met him in mid-air. For a moment it actually looked like there might be a battle. But instead they crashed into each other and both fell to the ground with pained yelps.

Shredder scowled. "Rocksteady, you idiot!"

"Well," Barney sneered, "at least he took out the final Turtle. Their newfound clumsiness has indeed been their undoing today."

"True," Shredder mused, smirking behind his mask. "Your invention has done wonders for their agility. I'm glad I thought of it." He watched in triumph as Bebop began dragging Raphael and Donatello into the building by their ankles. "Now the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have truly been defeated! And their humiliating final fight will end with their de-mutations, thanks to your retro-mutagen ray gun!"

Leonardo stirred at the sound of Shredder's mad cackles. Cringing in pain, he reached in desperation for his Turtle-Comm. "Baxter?" he mumbled.

After a burst of static, the screen cleared and an impatient Baxter was looking out at him. "So you've gotten yourselves into trouble, have you?" he grumped.

"Yeah," Leonardo winced. "And we're about to become Turtle Soup for real this time."

"I'll come out there," Baxter told him. "I can see the building from my apartment. Which still doesn't have furniture, I might add."

"No," Leonardo whispered. Bebop was dragging Michelangelo now. He would be next. "You can't come here, Baxter! If Shredder sees you alive . . ."

"He won't have to see me," Baxter retorted. "All I have to do is disable that machine on the roof and then the four of you can do the rest. Am I correct?"

"Yeah," Leonardo said slowly. "But you'd never be able to get up to the roof!"

"Donatello informed me that he made your Turtle Blimp using pieces of my inventions," Baxter said, unable to fully keep the annoyed inflections out of his voice. "It shouldn't be difficult for me to figure out. I could fly it over the roof and disable the machine from the air."

Leonardo stiffened as Rocksteady recovered and started to lumber in his direction. "Okay," he said quickly. "I guess that's all we can do. But be careful!" He pressed the button to end the conversation just as Rocksteady reached him.

"Oh, are you calling for help?" Rocksteady mocked. "Nobody else is gonna have any luck now either! Even your Master Splinter would be falling all over himself!"

"We'll see about that," Leonardo retorted. At the same time, he prayed for Baxter's success.

xxxx

Baxter wasted little time after hanging up with Leonardo. Before leaving, he scribbled a note for the furniture deliverymen to get the landlord to let them in if they arrived while he was out. It would be just like it that it would happen that way, he thought in exasperation. He stuck the note on the door before hurrying down the stairs.

Many thoughts tumbled through his mind as he ran. He still didn't particularly want to be involved in the fight between the Turtles and Shredder, but Barney's decision to align with Shredder had helped to force his hand. And even if it hadn't been for that, he had actually started to become friendly with the Turtles and Splinter. It was still strange to think about after his attacks on them in the past, but he didn't want them to be hurt. So he would shove aside any fears he had and do what had to be done.

He slowed in surprise when he arrived outside only to see a Channel 6 news van pulling up at the curb. "What's going on here?" he asked of April in the passenger seat.

"Dr. Stockman!" April said in equal surprise. "I don't know what's happening. I've felt so strange today. I just haven't been myself. Mr. Thompson finally ordered Irma to drive me back home to rest."

"Have you suddenly become clumsy?" Baxter frowned.

"Why, yes," April said in amazement. "I thought I was probably coming down with something."

"April," Irma interrupted in confusion, "this is the guy I bumped into today. You know him?"

"Yes, I do," said April. "This is Dr. Baxter Stockman." To Baxter she asked, "What are you doing here?"

"I'm moving in, but that's beside the point," Baxter said with impatience. "Barney has invented a ray that's turning everyone in the city into klutzes! The Turtles went to try to stop it and they were completely overpowered. I was going to get the Turtle Blimp and try to destroy that machine from the air so that they will return to normal."

"They called you instead of me?" April said in confusion.

"They assumed you would be affected by the ray," Baxter said. "They knew I wasn't. Nevermind, we can talk about it later. I have to be going."

"No way!" April retorted. "Klutz or no klutz, I'm going to help out!"

"April!" Irma exclaimed.

"Just get in the van," April continued. "We'll all help the Turtles together."

Not wanting to argue, Baxter opened the side door and climbed inside. "You might do more harm than good, Miss O'Neil," he said as Irma drove off. "The Turtles were in no condition to fight. You are apparently in no condition to work. At least I know what it is to have to live with not being very graceful or fast on my feet. You do not."

"I'm still not going to stay behind," April insisted. "If I can't be actively involved in front of the scenes, I'll be involved behind the scenes."

"Hey," Irma interrupted. "I'm not affected by this weird ray thing either. I'm just as clumsy as I ever was. Maybe I can help too!"

"You're helping by driving," Baxter said. "You can follow on the ground when I take the Blimp."

"How are you going to steer and destroy the machine all at once?" April retorted. "You'll need at least one of us with you."

"And what are you gonna destroy it with?" Irma chimed in.

Baxter stiffened. "I'm sure there's something appropriate on the Blimp," he said. "It wouldn't be like the Turtles not to have it prepared to use in battle."

"You're right," April admitted. "I've been on the Turtle Blimp a lot of times. I know where everything is." She smiled, folding her arms. "You'll need me there to speed things up."

"Oh, fine!" Baxter snapped in frustration. "I'm tired of arguing about it. If you want to come, come! Just don't blame me if everything goes wrong."

"I won't," April said lightly. "Unless it really is your fault."

She realized almost instantly that it was a bad joke. "I'm sorry," she apologized. "I didn't mean that the way it sounded."

"I know," Baxter said. And he did, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt. It brought back too many unpleasant memories. Shredder had always blamed him for everything that went wrong, whether he was the cause of it or not. This time, he vowed, he would not fail. He couldn't; it was too critical.

". . . And I didn't mean to imply that your being along would damage everything," he realized in chagrin. "I sound like I'm taking over. And really, you've been the Turtles' ally all along and have helped them out of more than one tight spot. I've been their enemy until several days ago. I have no right to act like I'm running the show."

"Wait, what?" Irma exclaimed. "You were an enemy? . . . Wait a minute! Baxter Stockman?!" She started to twist around in the driver's seat. "Aren't you the fly guy who tried to take over Channel 6 with some creepy computer?!"

"Irma, keep your eyes on the road!" April yelped.

The van swerved violently and Irma looked back just in time to avoid another van coming right at them. The driver honked angrily as he sped past.

Baxter gripped the top of the seat in front of him in alarm. When the danger passed, he sighed and slumped back. "Yes, that was me," he admitted. "Although I barely remember it."

Irma shot a look at April. "So _he's_ the scientist's brother who used to be a mutant?!"

"Um, yeah," April said in embarrassment.

"I'm a scientist too," Baxter frowned.

"I was telling Irma about you when I was thinking of doing that story on your brother," April explained. "I was kind of vague."

"But if you were the Turtles' enemy, and you were, why do you want to help them now?!" Irma demanded. The suspicion was thick in her voice.

"That's a long story," Baxter said wearily, "and we don't have time for it now."

April nodded. "Take a left here," she told Irma. "We're almost to the Turtle Blimp."

Irma turned down the new street. "Do _you_ trust him, April?" she asked.

"Yes, I do, and so do the Turtles," April told her. "They gave him a Turtle-Comm to keep in touch."

"Wow," said Irma. "They really do trust him." She glanced at Baxter in the rear-view mirror. " _I_ don't even have a Turtle-Comm!"

It wasn't long after that when they reached the location where the Turtles had been keeping the blimp. While Baxter set about inflating it, Irma stared at the attached glider in horror. "We're supposed to ride on _that?!_ There's not even any seatbelts!"

"It's perfectly safe, Irma, as long as you're careful," April insisted. She headed to the glider and promptly tripped. "Whoa!"

Baxter winced. "Which you'll have a difficult time with right now."

April braced herself on the side of the glider. "I'll manage," she grumbled.

"I don't see any place to store weapons," Baxter frowned.

"Well, they're ninja weapons, of course." April walked around and sat down on the glider. "Ninja stars mostly, I think."

"None of us know how to throw those!" Irma moaned. "And no way am I going to fly over the city on that thing!"

"Then you can drive the van on the ground, as I suggested," Baxter answered. "It would probably be good to have a little back-up anyway."

"Here it is!" April pushed a button and a secret compartment fell open. "Donatello had this installed not too long ago." She pulled out two ninja stars. "It shouldn't be too hard to throw them, if we're low enough."

"I don't know how close we'll be able to get," Baxter frowned. "And be careful with those, Miss O'Neil! You could get . . ."

"Ow!" April hissed.

"Cut," Baxter sighed.

xxxx

Inside the skyscraper Shredder had taken over, the Turtles were tied up in a variety of defeated positions. They watched in dismay as Shredder bustled about, crowing over his success while Barney observed in irritation. Bebop and Rocksteady, having been regulated to the roof to watch over the clumsiness ray, were nowhere in sight.

"Like, what are we gonna do, dudes?" Michelangelo worriedly asked. He was hanging from the ceiling by his wrists while other chains came up from the floor to bind his ankles. "It looks like maybe this time Shredder really is going to win."

"Gee, whatever makes you say that, Michelangelo?" Raphael grumped, gazing down at the thick cords strapping him to a metal slab.

Leonardo was hanging upsidedown, wrapped in enough coils that he looked like he was in a cocoon. "If I could just reach my knife," he gasped.

"You'd probably stick yourself in the eye," Raphael said dryly. "Face it, Leonardo, we're not in any shape to do anything but hang around and wait to be rescued. Again."

"That's not so bad," Michelangelo drawled. "As long as we _get_ rescued. Then we can get up and kick some serious shell."

"Yeah. Ours!" Raphael rolled his eyes. "We're useless as long as that stupid ray gun is working."

Chained to the wall, Donatello struggled against his manacles. "If I could just get loose, I could go up there and reverse it," he gasped. "That would make everyone go back the way they're supposed to be."

"Busting it in half would have the same effect, wouldn't it?" Raphael retorted.

"Well, yeah, but that's not as much fun," Donatello protested.

"You just like to play with any kind of machine you find," Raphael said flatly. "Even if it's been the bane of our existence."

"Hey, I've turned a lot of those machines around to help us," Donatello insisted.

"We've got enough problems right now without you two arguing!" Leonardo interrupted.

"Well, soon you won't have any problems at all," Barney sneered. He approached Leonardo, smirking as he bent down to look the Turtle in the eyes. "I didn't get to test my retro-mutagen ray gun on you the last time we met. I say it's overdue for a trial run."

"I say it's just fine with us if you indefinitely postpone the honor," Michelangelo declared. "We'd rather be gnarly and hip mutants instead of pet shop turtles."

"Or instead of Shredder's dinner!" Raphael moaned.

"You surely know by now that Shredder wants to kill us, not just de-mutate us," Leonardo said. "Are you really going to just let it happen?"

"He murdered his brother," Raphael grumbled. "You think he cares what happens to a bunch of big Turtles?"

Barney straightened and turned away. "I don't care what happens to anyone who gets in my way," he said stiffly.

"We know that," Donatello frowned. They might have silently agreed to put on this act for Shredder's benefit, but he could not help wondering if Barney really would let them die. After all, they were not his family. It was less likely that he would regret their demise than he had his brother's.

"I think this has gone on long enough. Don't you?" Shredder stepped forward, the dreaded retro-mutagen ray gun in hand.

"I'm really not in any hurry to lose my intelligence and get eaten, thanks," Raphael said.

"And I don't intend to keep you waiting!" Shredder sneered. "You will be the first to go." He raised the gun to point at Raphael.

"No!" the Turtles collectively yelped.

Raphael shut his eyes tightly as the gun began to glow. There was nothing they could do.

xxxx

In the sky, the Turtle Blimp swerved and dipped on its path towards the skyscraper Shredder was using as his current hideout. Baxter scowled, tightly gripping the controls.

April clutched at the right side of the glider for dear life. "Maybe coming along _wasn't_ such a good idea," she moaned.

"It takes time to learn how to pilot something new," Baxter shot back.

"Which is exactly what we don't have any of right now!" April retorted.

"We're coming up on the building," Baxter told her. "And oh drat, Shredder's idiot mutants are up there."

"We can't risk them seeing you alive," April frowned.

"Well, the only other option is sending your friend up there to create a diversion," Baxter said.

"Ohh, and I hate to do that too," April fretted. "Maybe I could get down from here and do something."

"I can't have you or her putting yourselves in danger because of me," Baxter retorted. "Anyway, Bebop and Rocksteady have already seen the blimp."

"They're getting ready to shoot us down!" April yelped.

Baxter swerved again and drew the airship up higher, out of their laser guns' range. "Where is that other girl anyway?" he frowned. "I haven't seen the van on the ground for some time."

"Maybe she got lost," April sighed. "No, wait! There's the van around the back of the building!"

"What would it be doing back there?" Baxter frowned.

"Irma might have already decided to go inside," April realized. "She might have parked around back so she wouldn't be noticed as easily."

"Would she have enough presence of mind to think about that?" Baxter sounded doubtful.

"You might be surprised," April retorted.

xxxx

Irma crept along the darkened back hallways of the currently taken-over building, frowning to herself. "Now if I was Shredder, where would I be hiding in here?"

The top floors had seemed the most likely, so she had climbed the stairwells to the upper levels and then had gotten out to carefully examine each floor. But when she moved to the top floor and heard voices coming from the door leading to the roof, she drew closer to try to hear more.

"This is boring," Rocksteady whined. "I wanna see the Boss ice the Turtles!"

"Yeah," Bebop agreed. "This is somethin' big. We shouldn't havta miss it just because we're guarding this silly clumsiness ray."

"Oh, and here comes the Turtle Blimp!" Rocksteady cried.

"Wait a minute. Who's flying it now?" Bebop wondered. "Them Turtles are all tied up."

"It's gotta be April O'Neil or Splinter or somebody like that," said Rocksteady. "Come on, let's shoot 'em down!"

Irma's eyes widened in her horror. "I can't let them do that!" she gasped. "I have to get them away somehow! But how?"

At that moment she stumbled, falling down several stairs to the mid-flight landing. "Whoa!"

It certainly captured Bebop and Rocksteady's attention. "What was that?" Bebop frowned.

"It didn't sound like no Turtles or the Boss or Dr. Stockman," Rocksteady declared. He threw the door open, blaster in hand. "Somebody must've broke in! Come on, let's get 'em!"

Irma staggered up, dazed and bruised, and barely had time to flee down the rest of the stairs to the top floor door before Shredder's mutants reached the mid-flight landing. "I can't let them see me!" she whispered in terror. "But maybe I can keep drawing them away from the roof anyway!"

She let the heavy door bang behind her as she tore into the lobby. Seconds after she accidentally knocked over an artificial plant and hid behind a desk, Bebop and Rocksteady burst through the door.

"Alright, where are you?" Rocksteady yelled. "Come out, come out, wherever you are!"

Irma trembled under the desk. _I hope I've given them enough time to blow up that stupid ray,_ she thought.

xxxx

The Turtle Blimp was still hovering in the sky close to the skyscraper's roof.

"Yes! Irma got Bebop and Rocksteady to leave!" April cheered.

"Good," said Baxter. "Now, try throwing one of the ninja stars."

April did so. But instead of going where it was supposed to, it cut through a cord on the roof.

"Ohh! I don't think even Irma has ever been this clumsy!" she berated. "Shredder's little ray really did a number on me!"

"That was probably the point," Baxter replied with impatience. "It amplified everyone's ability to be clumsy far beyond what's even normal!"

"Except for people like you and Irma," April reminded him. "I'll take the controls. You try throwing the next ninja star!"

Baxter slid over while April grabbed the controls. Just as he armed himself with several ninja stars, the door to the roof flew open and Barney ran outside, heading right for the sparking cord April had damaged.

Baxter froze. He hadn't seen his brother since the battle on the Technodrome that had resulted in Barney furiously chasing Baxter and striking him down with a crowbar. He had lied and told Krang that Baxter was dead to keep Krang from discovering that he actually wasn't, but what if Barney snapped again if he witnessed Baxter destroying another invention?

"Dr. Stockman!" April yelped. "You have to do it now!"

Baxter narrowed his eyes. April was right. He threw the handful of stars all at once, aiming at the machine. At the same time he yelled, "Barney, get out of the way!"

Barney looked up just in time to see the stars spinning straight at the clumsiness ray. "No!" he screamed. He was powerless to do a thing; several of the little weapons were on a collision course. All he could do was heed Baxter's warning and leap back into the stairwell. Seconds later, the impact hit the device's vital parts and it exploded, rumbling through and rocking the entire roof.

Barney opened the now-scorched door, just in time to catch Baxter's eye. His own narrowed in anger and frustration. "Very well, Brother," he snarled. "We've chosen our respective paths. We're on opposite sides now."

His shoulders slumped as he shut the door and leaned against it. "But I'm glad you're alright," he whispered.

xxxx

Moments earlier, inside the building, Shredder dropped the retro-mutagen ray gun as it let loose with a painful electric shock. "What the . . . ?! What just happened?!" He jumped out of the way of the attached cord.

"Since when does that thing have a cord?" Raphael blinked.

"It was charging!" Shredder fumed. "Now it's short-circuited!"

Barney regarded him in annoyance. "I'll go up on the roof and see what happened. I knew you shouldn't have plugged it into the clumsiness ray! Your mutants probably caused this!"

Shredder shook his fists to the ceiling. "This is like having a second Krang!" he roared. "What made me think another scientist was a good idea?!"

"Gee, I don't know," Raphael quipped. "Maybe because you want to get rid of Krang so bad and you thought Barney would be on your side."

"Serves you right for treating Baxter so rotten," Leonardo snapped. Finally, despite several painful, clumsy slips, he had his mini-dagger free from his ankle band! Clenching his teeth, he tried to carefully balance it between his toes in order to slit some of the cords.

Shredder didn't even notice. "You didn't like him any more than I did!" he ranted as he stormed around the room.

"We were wrong about him, though," Donatello said.

"Yeah. Too bad we can't say the same about you, Tin Grin!" Michelangelo added.

The sudden explosion rocked the entire room and sent the dagger clattering to the floor.

Shredder fell back against a console. "What happened?!" He stared towards the roof. "Barney!"

Leonardo was still swinging from the ceiling. But he had managed to cut through enough of the cords that when he strained against them, the rest pulled free. Triumphant, he leaped to the floor. "I'd say your clumsiness ray has just been destroyed," he declared.

"Alright!" Michelangelo cheered.

"No!" Shredder cried.

Bebop and Rocksteady ran into the room just as Leonardo was freeing the other Turtles. "Boss, something happened up on the roof!" Bebop exclaimed.

"I'm aware of that, you dunderheads!" Shredder fumed. "The Turtles are getting free!"

"And now we're ready to take you out," Leonardo smirked.

Shredder ran. "Krang, open the portal!"

The dimensional portal opened in space just as Barney made his way back to the room. "We have to get out of here!" he ordered. "Both the clumsiness ray and the retro-mutagen ray gun are out of commission, thanks to you!"

"How is it my fault?!" Shredder snarled. "You insolent worm! You should have been watching them more closely!"

"You should have had your mutants up on the roof!" Barney scooped up the ray gun. "Luckily I can fix this."

"They _were_ on the roof!" Shredder boomed.

"Not when this happened," Barney insisted.

"Aww, Boss, do we have to go?" Rocksteady whined. "We wanna thrash the Turtles!"

"There's no point in that now!" Shredder snarled. "You had your fun earlier. We're defeated; let's go!" He leaped into the portal, followed quickly by Barney. Still whining and grumbling, Bebop and Rocksteady chased after them.

The Turtles caught up just as the portal vanished. "Bummer," Michelangelo sighed.

"Oh well, they always get away anyway," Raphael shrugged. "Although it would have been nice to pay them back for earlier."

"We'll get plenty of chances for that," Leonardo said. "Let's get outside and make sure Baxter is alright. He must have blown up the machine from the roof."

"And Barney might have seen him!" Donatello realized, his eyes widening.

"Let's just hope Barney still feels like covering for him," Leonardo said as he hurried to the door.

xxxx

Krang was not in a good mood when the sorry group arrived back at the Technodrome.

"What happened?!" he croaked. "That clumsiness ray was supposed to be a foolproof plan!"

"It would have been a foolproof plan if someone had been guarding the clumsiness ray on the roof!" Barney retorted. "And if Mr. Shredder hadn't insisted on plugging the retro-mutagen ray gun into the clumsiness ray to charge!"

"Bebop and Rocksteady were _on_ the roof!" Shredder snarled.

"Well, we were until we heard a noise and we went to investigate," Bebop said. "We never did find out what it was."

"I'm surrounded by idiots!" Krang bemoaned. He looked to Barney. "Where is the clumsiness ray?"

"It was blown up," Barney said in frustration.

"By whom?!" Krang roared, shaking his tiny arms. "The Turtles were immobilized!"

"It was that reporter, April O'Neil," Barney answered. "She threw something down from some blimp that caused the clumsiness ray to explode."

"She couldn't have operated the Turtle Blimp and thrown something at the same time!" Shredder retorted. "Especially not in her condition! Someone had to have been with her!"

"It was probably one of her friends from Channel 6," Barney grumped. "I only recognized her."

"Alright," Krang warbled in aggravation. "Nevermind. But next time, we'll use _my_ new plan."

"What's that?" Shredder asked, his eyes glittering with suspicion.

"All in good time," Krang said. "We'll wait a day or so before striking again. You need some time to recover from this latest failure!"

"And I need time to repair the retro-mutagen ray gun," said Barney. He stormed off to his laboratory.

Krang looked to Shredder. "Well, so even in spite of your clumsiness ray idea, the Turtles' friends still managed to defeat you." His expression and tone clearly showed his disgust.

"Hey, it was your idea to begin with!" Shredder snapped.

"Apparently we all underestimated Miss O'Neil and whoever else was with her." Krang frowned.

"It was probably that idiot Irma Langinstein," Shredder said dismissively.

"After what we saw, do you really think she could ride on the Turtle Blimp without falling off?" Krang retorted.

"Why not?" Shredder shot back. "Miss O'Neil should have fallen off while under the clumsiness ray's effects, and she didn't!"

"Hmm. I suppose you're right," Krang said slowly.

"Who else could it have been?" Shredder exclaimed. "Splinter would have come down to free the Turtles, so it couldn't have been him . . . unless he was the one who drew Bebop and Rocksteady away. . . ."

"That would still leave someone else to be on the Turtle Blimp with April O'Neil," said Krang, "and frankly, I just don't care who it was. You can sit and stew over this for as long as you want. I'm going to put the finishing touches on my plan."

Shredder frowned behind his mask as he watched Krang stomp away. "I wonder what he's coming up with," he muttered to himself.

xxxx

The Turtles were rushing down the hall to the lobby when a figure in the shadows stumbled out from under a desk. "Hi, guys," came a familiar voice. "Is it safe to come out now?"

"Irma!" the Turtles exclaimed all at once. They hurried over as she came over and they all met near the elevators.

"I got Bebop and Rocksteady away from the roof," Irma explained, "although it was kind of an accident at first. And then something blew up, so I hoped that April and Dr. Stockman got rid of that machine."

"They did," Leonardo said. "All three of you helped us a great deal."

"We'd be cooking in Shredder's soup right now if it wasn't for everything you and April and Baxter did," Donatello declared. "I just hope they don't know that Baxter was involved."

"Why?" Irma blinked as they went to the stairwell and started down.

"They think he's dead," Raphael explained. "And it would be safer for him if they kept thinking it."

"Oh. Hey, why are we taking the stairs when the elevator was right there?" Irma suddenly exclaimed.

"It's good exercise," Leonardo called back.

Soon they were outside and Irma was unlocking the news van. The Turtles moved to go to their own means of transportation.

"April and Baxter will have to go back to where we were storing the Turtle Blimp," Donatello said, "so we'll try to meet them there."

"So are you guys completely back to normal now?" Irma asked as she got behind the wheel.

"For sure, Dudette," Michelangelo grinned. "Only Shredder ran away before we could prove it."

"I guess he was sick of Turtle defeats," Raphael smirked.

xxxx

April and Baxter were just putting the Turtle Blimp away as the others drove up in their respective vehicles. April turned, immediately brightening. "Guys! Irma!" She ran over with a happy wave. Baxter followed at a calmer pace.

"Hey, April," Leonardo greeted. "Baxter. You two and Irma really came through for us."

"Yeah, thanks a million!" Michelangelo chirped.

"I'm just glad we could help," April declared.

"So are you feeling okay now and all?" Michelangelo asked.

"Just great!" April smiled. She got into the news van. "No more clumsiness for me!"

Baxter slipped on the way into the Turtle Van, but caught himself. "It would be nice if I could say the same for myself," he grumbled. "But if everything's back to normal now, I need to get home and see whether those idiots finally delivered my furniture."

"No problem," Michelangelo said. "We'll drop you off at your doorstep."

"Meanwhile, Irma and I have to get back to Channel 6," April said. "I need to get my story in about what happened today!"

"Yeah, you do that," Raphael said.

"Can we go back to the apartments first?" Irma sighed. "I'd really like to freshen up before we go back to Channel 6."

"Alright, Irma," April smiled in amusement. "We'll follow the Turtles back."

Goodbyes were exchanged and the two vehicles drove away.

For a moment all was silent in the Turtle Van. Then Donatello broke it as he quietly asked, "By the way, Baxter, Barney was running up to the roof to see what was happening. Did he see you?"

". . . Yes," Baxter admitted. "He said we're on opposite sides now. I guess we always were, really. But it's strange to think about _how_ we're on opposite sides this time."

"No kidding," said Michelangelo. "But do you think he'll tell on you?"

"I hope not," Baxter sighed. "It would likely still be bad for him if he did, so he surely won't."

"At least you know he does care about you or he wouldn't have lied to Krang in the first place," Leonardo said.

"That's true," Baxter agreed. He turned to look out the window, falling silent.

The Turtles, recognizing that it was still difficult for him to cope with the rift between him and his brother, did as well.

xxxx

A furniture truck was just pulling up in front of the apartment building when the two vans arrived. Baxter snapped to, staring at it in disbelief. "Can you believe it?" he burst out. "They're only coming with my furniture now!"

"Well, at least it's still today and not 48 hours later," April remarked as she leaned out the window of the news van. "I had a horrible time getting my order in from Furniture World."

"I wish I'd talked to you before I placed my order," Baxter said while storming out of the Turtle Van. "I'd better get in there and supervise. Who knows what other mistakes might happen!"

"Hey, we'll be happy to help you get settled, just like we said earlier," Michelangelo offered.

"Really, Michelangelo?" April looked to him. "After a day like today, I'd think you'd just want to get home and watch _Invasion of the Coconut Monsters from Mars._ "

"Hey, after a day like today, I'm so grateful to be my usual nimble self that moving furniture around sounds pretty good!" Michelangelo exclaimed.

"You might regret that at the end of the day," Baxter said, looking back at him. "But I'd welcome the help."

The Turtles started to pile out of the van. "Then, Teenage Mutant Interior Decorators, here we come," said Raphael.


End file.
